Capitalism Works for Me: True or False? New Yorkers Say False

WNYC News | Sep 20, 2013

Capitalism works for me... true or false? New Yorkers votes on Friday: 109 false, 93 true.

A 20 feet x 9 feet sign with a voting podium was in Times Square. The piece was was created by New York artist Steve Lambert in 2011. Lambert said his goal is to get people talking — he's already taken it to nine cities.

"Whether or not it works for you or it doesn't work for you, almost everyone I have talked to can imagine ways how it can be better," Lambert said. "So the sign is really bait for people's imagination."

Mary Flowers was on a business trip from Seattle and stopped by to vote. She said she voted false because she is African American. "It does not work for me, because I am connected to everyone and we have that history, my history, we were the capital," she said.

But Safe Shazly, who is from Egypt and lives in Germany, said he voted true because there are positive things in his life that he attributes to capitalism. "To have the education that I can have, across the borders in Germany, to be here, in a tourist visit," he explained.

The piece is on Broadway between 46th and 47th streets. You can vote on capitalism's virtues again from Sunday, Oct. 6, until Oct. 9.

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